Carnival Victory vs Carnival Dream Cruise

[jtpost84]

Hi everyone,

 

My girlfriend and I are trying to decide between the following cruises but are having trouble making a decision:

 

Carnival Dream (7 day): Leaves from Port Canaveral and goes to Nassau, St Thomas, St Maarten, and has 3 days at sea

 

Carnival Victory (7 day) Leaves from San Juan and goes to St Thomas, St Maarten, Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts, and has 1 day at sea.

 

Carnival Victory has a few extra stops which is appealing, but the ship also seems to be old. Carnival Dream is a brand new ship but only goes to those 3 stops (and we have been to Nassau before).

 

Anyone have any experiences or opinions they can share to help make our decision easier?

 

Are there other ships/itineraries that you recommend doing instead? We are open to suggestions.

 

Thanks for your help!

[KruznKel]

Hi everyone,

 

My girlfriend and I are trying to decide between the following cruises but are having trouble making a decision:

 

Carnival Dream (7 day): Leaves from Port Canaveral and goes to Nassau, St Thomas, St Maarten, and has 3 days at sea

 

Carnival Victory (7 day) Leaves from San Juan and goes to St Thomas, St Maarten, Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts, and has 1 day at sea.

 

Carnival Victory has a few extra stops which is appealing, but the ship also seems to be old. Carnival Dream is a brand new ship but only goes to those 3 stops (and we have been to Nassau before).

 

Anyone have any experiences or opinions they can share to help make our decision easier?

 

Are there other ships/itineraries that you recommend doing instead? We are open to suggestions.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

We always book for price first.. there are many other options from Florida.. If you are looking for the specific ports for the Victory you wont find those.. she is the only ship that does those.. and even tho an older ship she is great... also look at airfare...

[chachi]

Victory was my favorite cruise. Karl, the cruise director is awesome. I prefer port days to sea days, so this cruise was perfect for me. I went over the summer when they still had a stop a day. I did not feel that the ship was old. With all of the time on shore, I felt that I didn't get to know the ship as well as other ships though. It was well maintained. I have not been on the Dream though, because I won't book a 7 day cruise with only 3 stops.

[kathy370]

The cruise on the Victory was my favorite! I loved all of the ports. But, when I went there were no sea days, so we really didn't spend much time on the ship. After a day in port we were pretty tired so didn't do as much at night knowing we had another port the next day. That being said, I enjoyed the ship but it is of course an older ship. But I would do that cruise again in a heartbeat!

[jtpost84]

Very good points - out of all the islands on the victory, which are the best? St THomas, St Maarten, St Lucia, St Kitts, Barbados.

 

If we still go on the Dream, we would still get St Thomas and St Maarten - just don't know how much we would miss out on in if we don't go to St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and Barbados.

 

We appreciate the advice!

[KruznKel]

Very good points - out of all the islands on the victory, which are the best? St THomas, St Maarten, St Lucia, St Kitts, Barbados.

 

If we still go on the Dream, we would still get St Thomas and St Maarten - just don't know how much we would miss out on in if we don't go to St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and Barbados.

 

We appreciate the advice!

 

Is there a reason you are not looking at the other ships.. Valor..Liberty...Freedom.

[ricew001]

We did the Victory in January (see my tag line for my review) and we LOVED it!!! The ship was in dry dock in November and the Serenity Deck was AWESOME! The drinks were great, the piano bar was so much fun and the islands are incredible! Did the rum distillery in Barbados, the train ride in St Kitts and, at the recommendation of another CC member, a resort in St Lucia.

I loved the Victory itin - seems like everyone has been to Nassau and St Thomas but the Victory hit those additional islands and it was so much fun. I can't say enough good things about it.

As someone mentioned, Karl with a K - the cruise director - made the entire week a blast! I really enjoyed every single second of it!

[ferfoodle]

Don't know if cost is an issue, but if it is you might want to look at the cost of airfare before you make your final decision. Flying to San Juan is usually quite a bit more than to Orlando.

[smurfm69]

I also agree that if you are on a smaller budget, take into consideration the cost of flying to Puerto Rico. Our round trip flight is costing us just a few hundred less than the actual cruise. We have heard so many great reviews and want to see these extra ports, so we decided to go with it. Hope y'all have a great cruise no matter which one you choose.

[balcony bound]

Well, I have sailed both, and I have to say we love both ships. We're recently home from our Victory cruise, and it was really wonderful. If you want to do a southern itinerary, book Victory.

 

We do love the Dream, and are sailing Dream again in September, but there is no way I would pick the Dream for a southern itinerary - I would pick Victory every time.

 

At no time did I feel the Victory was "old" - I think it's a beautiful ship and we totally enjoyed it - nothing old about it. The only thing that keeps us from sailing the Victory again soon is airfare. We live within short minutes of Port Canaveral and it's very convenient for us. DH did not enjoy flying to our port - didn't bother me, other than the added expense.

 

For us, our Victory cruise was one of those cruises "of a lifetime" and I hope to repeat it sometime in the near future. The Dream is one of our favorites mostly because of the spa ---:)

[Kitt Lady]

Our first cruise was on the Dream. The Ship was great - but we weren't too happy with the ports.

 

Last Jan we were on the Victory and absolutely LOVED it. The ship may be older - but you really don't see it. The only difference my DH commented on was the size. The Dream is much bigger.

 

We aren't really ship kinda people...lol. Our choice isn't for the ship - We want ports. The Victory's islands are so beautiful. We are going again this coming Jan and taking our adult kids.

 

The cost is a huge factor. I booked our cabins at $200 less then when I booked the cabins last year. Air is a big factor - depending on where you live and how much your air comes to. If your comfortable with the airfare - I personally recommend the Victory.

[Name Of The Game]

I've sailed on the Victory but not on that itinerary. For us that one has too many days in port and it's expensive to fly to San Juan.

 

Then you have the Dream which I've read has huge lines. Furthermore it leaves on a Saturday which would prevent us from flying in the day before.

 

So my answer would be neither. :rolleyes:

[ginal]

I haven't been on the Dream, but we loved the Victory. It was port intensive and that's what we like. We watched the airfare and got it for around $350 from TX. We went a day early and enjoyed a little of the Puerto Rico. We had been there on a cruise stop before, so we knew we wanted a little extra time. All of the islands on the Victory were great. I booked a lot of my excursions based on these boards <not Carnival ones>. All turned out fantastic but one, and we are still laughing about the 'guide' on that one. On the Victory you still see islands without so much port development. I would rego on this ship every summer, but there is so much else to try. We are trying the Pacific side this summer on the Splendor. My only comment different from the others is that Nassau doesn't have much to do and is really run down in my opinion. Most folks are disappointed in that port. We never experienced a line on the ship, the service was fantastic, food was great, they even made Creme Buele (sorry if not spelled right) for me several nights special! They went out of their way to make your stay wonderful. That said some of the things on other cruises aren't on this one because you port everyday...such as Tea Time.

[mysh442olds]

we have done both and are going to san juan for the 4th time this sept

dream is nice ship way too many people for us

victory was just refurbished

all depends on what u want victory very cheap in sept dream is never cheap

but a new experience we did a cove balcony and would do again very cool

[luv cruising 007]

Been on the victory LOVE THAT SHIP! Yes its older but it doesnt show, plus I love the theme is the "WORLDS OCEANS & SEAS" to me thats one of the nicer themes Farcus(carnival's designer) had! Plus the stops are so much better! St LUCIA was my fav. stop it looked like those dream islands in the far pacific! COSUL TOURS is a great tour company in ST LUCIA check him out you wont regreat it! Lots of cruise critic members have tried his tours & you dont pay till the tour is over so if you miss your port your not stuck out of the money! Hope this helps enjoy whatever cruise you choose!

[nytonowhere]

Very good points - out of all the islands on the victory, which are the best? St THomas, St Maarten, St Lucia, St Kitts, Barbados.

 

If we still go on the Dream, we would still get St Thomas and St Maarten - just don't know how much we would miss out on in if we don't go to St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and Barbados.

 

We appreciate the advice!

 

My personal favorite islands are St. Lucia and St. Kitts..but i love all the rest too its a hard choice. I have done both of these boats and really there is no difference except the Dream is bigger (more crowded)..i did not LOVE the crowds on that boat at all. The Victory may be concidered old but she doesnt look old. That itinerary is my favorite..obviously ive done it twice, i could careless about the boat really im more interested in seeing different places. There might be a time in my life when i have a bunch of cruises under my belt that the boat will become more important, but not yet. I couldnt wait to go a second time and i have no wanting to go on the dream again. What is more interesting to you a boat or places? Everyone is different. I know that airfare to San Juan isnt looking good right now but ill tell you that is it worth it! Check out my review in my signature from the begining of March you can see how beautiful the island are. Newer and Bigger does not mean better...:)